Celebrate Mac's 30th Birthday, From the 128k to the iPhone

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Macintosh Computer (1984): Debuting 30 years ago today, the Macintosh 128k was Apple’s first personal computer where users didn’t rely on text commands. Instead, they could access their programs by clicking on icons with a mouse.

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Macintosh Computer (1984): Debuting 30 years ago today, the Macintosh 128k was Apple’s first personal computer where users didn’t rely on text commands. Instead, they could access their programs by clicking on icons with a mouse.

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Macintosh II (1987): The next in the line of Macintosh computers, Apple decided to separate the display from the computer itself. Unlike the black and white graphics of the original Mac, the Mac II monitor could display color.

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Macintosh Portable (1989): Apple’s first portable computer looked more like a half opened briefcase when in use. Despite the top-of-the-line active matrix display, the Mac Portable was hard to use in poor lighting. Two years later, Apple released a backlit model.

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Apple Powerbook (1991): Apple’s next line of laptops wouldn’t actually crush your lap. The Powerbook series were significantly lighter than the Mac portable, weighing only 6 pounds compared to the Mac Portable’s 16 pounds.

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iMac G3 (1998): Just a few years before the new millennium, Apple did away with the boxy designs of older computers in favor for something more curvy. However, it still brought to mind the original Mac, compacting the display and computer back in a single case.

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iPod (2001): Electronics companies had started looking beyond CDs and looking forward to digital music. Apple wanted to create a music player that struck a balance between storage size and physical size.

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iMac G4 (2002): The new computer shaved off some more weight with the iMac G4. CRT displays were on their way out, as Apple went with a flat panel display for the iMac G4 that swiveled around the computer contained within a semi-spherical base.

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eMac (2002): If the G3 and the G4 had a baby, it might look something like this. The computer, aimed at the educational market, might have had a CRT display, but the eMac still retained the computing power of the G4.

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iMac G5 (2004): The G4’s base was apparently taking up too much room, as the G5 decided to do away with the base completely. Instead, all of the computing power was kept directly behind the display.

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Mac Pro (2006): By 2006, Mac transitioned completely to using Intel processors. Unlike the more consumer-friendly forms of Apple’s previous computers, the Mac Pro was Apple’s way of showing that they hadn’t abandoned the professionals.

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iPhone (2007): Much like the iPod was for mp3 players, the iPhone was many people’s first introduction to the idea that a cell phone was for more than just calling people. The novelty of navigating with a touch screen made it easier to forgive that it used the slower-than-3G EDGE network.

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Mac Pro (2013): The gigantic tower of the old Mac Pro was abandoned for something that looked more like a futuristic coffee mug. In addition to stuffing a powerful package in a small container, the new Mac Pro is also manufactured in the United States, as opposed to other Mac products made in China.